Private schools vow to reopen schools on Jan 11

Warn of street protests if closure is extended

ISLAMABAD:

Private schools on Tuesday rejected any possibility of extending the ongoing shutdown of schools, reiterating that they will reopen their respective institutions from January 11, come hail or shine.

This was stated by members of a Joint Action Committee of Private Schools Associations (PSAs) on Tuesday. The joint action committee’s meeting was attended by senior representatives of more than 25 school and education associations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

We will not accept the government's decision [to extend schools closures], the school owners said in a news conference after the meeting.

The PSAs members warned that should the government extend the closure of schools and take punitive action against any private school which opens after January 111, they will stage street protests.

They went on to ask why educational institutions have been shut down when everything else is open.

They assured the government that their institutions will strictly implement all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed.

They further demanded the government provide interest-free loans to private schools so that they can ameliorate the financial crisis caused by the pandemic-induced lockdown.

They said that the prolonged closure of schools will only aggravate the damage caused to children in terms of lost studies.

The private schools' associations also formed a supreme council, which will have representation from all educational associations of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to decide a future course of action if schools are not allowed to reopen in early January.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2020.